No, you can't target belly fat with exercise – sorry

If you Google anything to do with fitness, there’s one search that comes up again and again.

Which exercises will get rid of belly fat?

No matter how body positive we all try to be, it’s normal to still have some hang ups about appearance – and it seems loads of us are really keen to shift our stomach rolls.

But is it actually possible to target your belly fat – or fat on any body part for that matter – when you’re working out?

You’re probably familiar with the pain of working really hard in the gym and seeing very little in the way of physical results. Squats are a classic example.

Insta-fitness types promise us the world when it comes to squats. And by the world, we mean the perky, peachy butt of our dreams. We’re out her squatting every day, and our peach butts are yet to materialise.

There’s a reason for this.

We’re really sorry to be the ones to tell you this, but all the evidence suggests that it’s not actually possible to target a certain area of your body through exercise alone.

So if you’re in the gym doing specific exercises to lose fat around your middle – they’re probably not working.

Why is it so hard to target fat?

Belly fat is particularly linked with refined carbohydrates, so ‘apple-shaped’ individuals, generally find a low carbohydrate approach to be most effective.

This type of fat is the most damaging to health, but also the easiest to shift.

‘Pear-shaped’ individuals, who store fat around the hips and legs, will generally find it harder to lose weight, but can take comfort from the knowledge that this fat doesn’t lead to diabetes and heart disease in the same way as abdominal fat.

An overall reduction in calories, combined with muscle-toning exercise is the best approach.

Dr. Clare Morrison, Medexpress

While it’s normal to want to improve certain things about your body – it might be more beneficial to work on changing your mind-set about exercise.

What if, instead of going to the gym with a list of physical things you want to change, you went with goals centred on your overall health and fitness.

Tracking your speed, endurance and strength, rather than how many inches or pounds you’ve lost, might make working out more enjoyable. And any physical changes will be a welcome bonus.

Aiming to lose weight in the gym can be a healthy goal, but you need to make sure you’re doing it in a safe and sustainable way.

Dr. Clare Morrison, GP and medical advisor at Medexpress, gave us her top tips on how to approach weight loss in a realistic, healthy way:

Do it gradually

‘To lose weight safely, one should aim for gradual sustained weight loss over a period of a few months, rather than a sudden drop in weight, which is unlikely to be maintained.’